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Entered , according to Act of Congress , in the year 1890, 
by H. S. Crocker & Co .. 

\ 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. \ 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 




K 











Sentinel RodC (JJriSaf S)eit, 

1:1 Capita"!?, c lt)e Cascades, ~TF)e'1j)ree ( l3ro tjcrs , 
Verpal Palls, Cat"F)ebral Spires, c Tleva6a Falls, 
Catfjeeral RodC, ^csetyite Kills, ^eflalFOojpe, 
General ^iew, '•'Ipe Snow Plapt~^ 

(s 

—-^-SnSx^——- 


OrifHt)aC"VValer Color Sketches ap8 Color Work,. 
(9ri^>it)cil Oil Sketches,_ 


Pep ap<^ lt)k Sketches, 
Text?"_ 


poei;ps,. 


e£, pripleS ctp^^oupS, 




by H .W. Hapsep. 
-by GarJl -Dal?l<irep. 
-by H.W. Hapsep. 

. by Warrep Cpepey. 

-bt| Karri) Dix. 


_ by H. S.Crocker 8c Co. 


H.S. Crocker & Co. 
Publishers, 

215 Bust) SlreepS an Francisco, 
California. 



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Sentinel Rock . Full page illustration, in colors Cathedral Spires .... Full page illustration , in colors 

INITIAL LETTER—The Sequoia Gigantea. INITIAL LETTER— Salmon Trout Fishing in the Merced. 

TAIL PIECE—A Camp at the Big Trees. TAIL PIECE—View of Pom-pom-pa-sa. 


Bridal Veil . Full page illustration, in colors 

INITIAL LETTER—I he Merced River after Leaving Yosemite. 
TAIL PIECE—Our Artist's Outfit. 

El Cap it an . Full page illustration , in colors 

INITIAL LETTER—ladders Foot of Vernal Fall. 

TAIL PIECE—An Indispensable Outfit. 

The Cascades . Full page illustration, in colors 

INITIAL LETTER—The “Dead Giant," Tuolumne Grove. 
TAIL PIECE—On the Big Oak Flat Stage Road. 

The Three Brothers ■ • Full page illustration, in colors 

INITIAL LETTER--A Forty-stamp Mill. 

TAIL PIECE—The First Glimpse of Yosemite Valley. 

Vernal Fall . Full page illustration, in colors 

INITIAL LETTER — Agassiz's Column. 

TAIL PIECE—A Logging Scene in the High Sierras. 


Nevada Fall . Full page illustration, in colors 

INITIAL LETTER—A “fyer” Panning for Gold. 

TAIL PIECE — Hutchings' Old Cabin. 

Cathedral Rock .... Full page illustration, in colors 

INITIAL LETTER—View of Sentinel Dome from the Valley. 
TAIL PIECE-Liberty Cap. 

Yosemite Fall . Full page illustration, in colors 

INITIAL LETTER—A Typical Grizzly Hunter of the Sierras. 
TAIL PIECE— Lamon's Cabin, the First in the Valley. 

The Half Dome ■ ■ . . Full page illustration, in colors 

INITIAL LETTER—Indians Gathering Pine-nuts. 

TAIL PIECE—An Indian Warrior's Outfit. 

General View . Full page illustration, in colors 

INITIAL LETTER—Squirrels al Play. 

TAIL PIECE—Mirror Lake at Dawn. 


Tile SnOW Plant .... Full page illustration, in colors. 

INITIAL LETTER—Half Dome seen from Glacier's Point. 
TAIL PIECE—Ready for a Day's Trip Through the Valley. 
















YTT HE YOSEMITE VALLEY is at once a satisfaction and an inspiration. It is the one place which 
I I entirely fulfills the expectation of the observer. No one has ever seen it without receiving from it 

^ J. ^ the lasting impression of moral elevation which comes from the near association with the sublimer 
manifestations of nature. It is the greatest of the natural wonders of California; but it is unique only in the 
point of size. There are in the State a half-dozen other Valleys exactly similar in formation and structure, which 
present, in a smaller way, like wonders of cataract and cliff; but nowhere else in the whole world is there such a 
marvelous aggregation of stupendous crags and dizzy waterfalls as is gathered together in this strange Sierran gorge. 
The vaiiey has been known to white men for almost forty years; but, long before that time, its existence was no 
secret to the Indians of the section, who occupied it as a dwelling-place and a fortress, and appreciatively designated, 
by legend and appropriate name, every point of interest that attracts the tourist of to-day. The romantic story of 
its discovery, the mysterious and boastful statements of the Indians concerning its supernatural quality and infinite 
inaccessibility, the massacre at Savage’s store, the hurried pursuit, the treaty with Ten-ie-ya, the broken promise, and 
the final descent into the valley,—these are matters of history, and do not call for more than mention here. But 
although four decades have passed since that little body of soldiers first looked down into the Yosemite, the valley 
has been really known and visited for much less than half that time. It was five years after the discovery before 
the first real effort at exploration was made. The character of the times was such, the nature of the population so 
nomadic and practical, that for a long time its beauties and its marvels were far better known in other lands than on 
the Pacific Coast. The first tourists, therefore, were largely foreigners; but, as the local population grew, there 
came to be an ever-increasing number of those who were willing to brave the hardships of the long, dusty ride 
over the sun-parched plains, the weary travel through the inaccessible mountains in which it lay, and the risk to life 
and limb that came with the breathless climb over the primitive valley trails. To-day the Yosemite is as easy to 
reach as the smoky cone of Vesuvius or the Rigi-Kulm. All the year round there is a stream of curious sight-seers 
entering or passing out through its gates. There is no class of people that is not reached by its fascination and 
interested by its charms. A thousand new species of strange plants and shrubs attract the interested eyes of the 
botanist; and the scientist has found infinite food for suggestion in its geologic forms, and has quarreled to his heart’s 
content over the manner of its formation. At first it was supposed to be an instance of what is technically called 
a “slip;” that during some mighty convulsion of nature the bottom suddenly dropped out at the point where the 
valley now is, and the whole mass of rock detritus went down a dizzy mile to the level of the present valley floor. 
A careful examination, however, of the formation of the vertical sides, the long parallel scratches that show the 
handwriting of the moving ice, the smoother surfaces turned to the lower valley, the splitting of the canon at its 
head, and the rounded moulding of the overhanging domes, all proclaim the fact that the Yosemite was in reality 
hollowed out by the irresistible, grinding force of some vast prehistoric glacier. 

****** 

Since we commenced this work the Fifty-first Congress has passed two laws of vast importance to lovers of 
natural beauty. It has withdrawn the Big Tree Grove of Tulare county from settlement and has passed the Yosemite 
National Park Bill, immensely extending the boundaries of the Yosemite Grant. 

The new National Park takes in the entire drainage area of the Yosemite, and much more. It embraces the 
whole of the upper Tuolumne river, with the Hetch Hetchy valley and the greater part of the Tuolumne water-shed. 
It includes Mount Lyell and its glaciers, Lake Eleanor, and the Mariposa, Merced and Tuolumne groves of Big Trees. 
It stretches from Lake Eleanor to Wawona and beyond, and from Hazel Green below Crane Flat to the highest ridge 
of the Sierra. It is about fifty miles in length by thirty-five in width, and considerably exceeds the State of Rhode 
Island in area. 

This magnificent reservation will be by far the most beautiful park in the world. It will lack the weird mar¬ 
vels of the Yellowstone—the geysers, the painted rocks and the stalagmitic formations—but in the magnificence and 
charm of forest, cliff and waterfall, it will be beyond comparison. It will give a new impetus to the tide of 
Yosemite travel. 




















Sentinel Rogi 




O MEW HAT beyond Cathedral Rock, and on the same side 
of the valley, rises the majestic needle of stone which 
is known as Sentinel Rock, or the Sentinel. It is an im¬ 
posing obelisk towering a sheer thousand feet above the rock 
wall on which it stands, and lifting its head a full three 
thousand feet above the valley. It is the great central 
landmark of the place. From its top not only is every 
and cranny of the valley in full view, but the 
of vision takes in all the country bordering on its 
for many miles around. The Indians were thoroughly 
with this fact; and, long before white men had ever 
foot in the valley, they named it Loya , the sentinel, and 
a lookout station for military purposes on its crest, 
it is seldom climbed, as the ascent is very difficult, 
no better view of the valley can be had from it than 
is obtained from other points more easily reached. But it 

will always remain one of the notable objects of interest in 
the place; for, whether seen direct or in the beautiful river 
reflection, its clear-cut lines and majestic height make it more 
than usually prominent in the landscape. 













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Bridal Veil 



EFORE the thresh hold of the valley is passed, falling from the 
top of the great cliff that forms one lintel of the doorway is 
. Bridal Veil Fall, the first cataract to arrest the attention of 
r-^£he observer going in. For a time it is hard to believe that 
t is a waterfall at all, so unlike is it to anything one is accus- 
tomed to associate with that name. From its plunge over 
: the face of the cliff to its disappearance in the tumbled 
;pck s below it is simply a filmy, shifting web of vapor, 
tg^tmted by the sunlight with all the colors of the rainbow, 
and changing monifcnfeEQF^iyithtn&"~fancy of the wind. At times it swiugs back and for¬ 
ward across the face of the cliff with the sweep and motion of a majestic pendulum. Then 
the current produced by its own rushing passes behind and under it, pushing it up till it 
lies like a crumpled veil against the summit of the rock. Often it floats out entirely free 
of the base, like an enormous pennant; and its spray settles down in soft gray clouds, 
which roll like mist along the levels. So fine is this subdivision of the spray, that the 
sheer drop of a thousand feet is made by the water in comparative silence. It is this 
silence, coupled with the fleecy quality of the foam, which has won for it the name of the 
Bridal Veil; and truly no web more delicate or more richly colored ever came from the 
famed looms of the East. 







































• • 




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t 



























El Gapitan. 



C A PIT AN (the captain), is the name given to the 
stupendous square-cut, granite mass which forms the left- 
1 J portal to the valley. Clean-cut and treeless it rises 
ptly from the base, its imposing head being a sheer three 
(thousand feet above the river. It is the overshadowing 
genius of the place. It is visible from the San Joaquin 
' Valley a hundred miles away. It fronts you as you catch 
the first glimpse of the Yosemite from Inspiration Point. 
It leans its projecting head above you as you pass the 
in entering below. It grows continually larger and more 
majestic as you move away from it beyond. Its presence cannot 
be escaped. No matter where the view be taken, its dignified 
is always in the landscape. In the sun it is creamy white, shading away 
in the shadows through browns to the deepest black. It is the sun dial of the 
valley. Long before it is sunrise on the river levels the light begins to whiten on its crest. 
And as the hour advances the shore line of shadow on its face—the surface edge of the 
flood of dusk which still pervades the valley—slips slowly and regularly downward toward 
its base, till the gorge is drained of the darkness and the sunlight touches the meadows 
at its foot. 









































































iSvONSPICUOUS and all-absorbing as are the greater falls and precipices 
°f ^ ie Yosemite, there is also within its precincts a multitude of minor 
-f heights and cataracts which would not fail to attract attention were it 
;v, not for the proximity of their grander neighbors. One of these 


^^Jlesser attractions is the stream which pours its flood over the cliff 
El Capitan and the narrow moiith of the canon to the 
^west^ and which, from the succession of plunges made in the 
descent to the valley, has received the name of The Cascades. It is an ever-changing suc¬ 
cession of broken falls, which flash in and among the huge blocks of granite, making 
now a quiet eddying pool, and now a stretch of foam of dazzling whiteness. Two streams 
on the upper level flowing in from diametrically opposite directions join just before 
reaching the brink and lend their combined volumes to form the torrent. In the descent 
of seven hundred feet there is an infinite variety of bounding waters which surge and 
swirl and dash and leap, till with a final plunge the stream lands in a beautiful green 
meadow, across which it flows to the Merced in a bright and sparkling flood. The beauty 
of the spot is greatly enhanced by the thick growth of nutmeg, live-oak and pine which 
covers the face of the cliff. 


































The Three Brothers. 



LMOST all of the Indian names for points of interest in the 
Yosemite are more appropriate and interesting than their later 
Christian christenings. Especially good was the cognomen given 
by these “first inhabitants” to the tri-cleft rock now known 
C, ._4s the Three Brothers. Pom-pom-pa-sa they called it,—“the 
Tr^Snotiritains playing leap-frog;” and it does not require a vivid 
imagination to understand their reason for giving it this 
name. There is a curious and easily discernible resemblance between the rocks and a 
series of frogs sitting close behind each other; and the uplifted, pointed heads, together with 
the angle at which they rise, gives them the appearance of being about to leap. The mod¬ 
ern name was given in commemoration of the capture of the three sous of the old Indian 
Chief Ten-ie-ya, which occurred at this point during the campaign of 1851. The rock is 
interesting in its variety, being so entirely different in structure and appearance from any 
other formation in the valley. Its highest peak rises three thousand eight hundred and 
eighteen feet above the roadway. A beautiful view on the road near Rocky Point is 
obtained of the entire eastern end of the valley. 

























Vernai , Fall . 


V 




A 


RIO U S effects in color have combined to exemplify in the 
Fall the significance of its name. The water itself is a 
peculiar transparent shade of green; the ferns and lichens that 
the rocks along its sides are wet continually with the rising 
, and sparkle with a spring-like freshness of color; and the base of 
fall is hidden by a growth of fir and spruce, through the deeper 
green of whose leaves the cataract is seen from below framed as in a 
It is the quietest and most beautiful fall in the valley, and 
sense of awe in its companionship. It is so perfectly access¬ 
ible and takes rts four hull<ircebif££t of plunge with such calmness and lack of flurry that 
one feels perfectly sure it will do its work properly without his cooperation, and can give 
his whole attention to consideration of its beauty. Above the fall there is a long stretch 
of quiet water; and it begins its leap over the edge of a square table of rock so flat that 
one can lie at length and drink of the water after it has left the brink. Ladder-like steps 
lead down by the right-hand side, by which descent may be made into the mist-swept 
slippery canon below. From this point the view of the fall is especially fine, as the sun¬ 
light builds bow upon bow of colors over the water from base to the very summit of the rock. 




-X-~, 


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The Spires. 


Th e evening sun is sinking fast 
Bch ind the mount and hill, 
But oh, upon (Cathedral Spires 
Tier glory lingers still; 

A thousand shining points retain 
The splendor of her ray, 

'•And fl a si] and signal back, again 
The parting smile of day. 
Lfike arrows shot into the sky 
Prorg some almighty boW, 

So rise these stony shafts on high 
‘And shade the \7ale beloW. 




.aaaiqg hhT 


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<Wod ^Jrlgimlo omoa fnov^] 

(Igirl no aijorla ^nola aaadj ash 
.Wolsd sIdV aHi abode bn A 
























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Cathedral Spires 


U T of the extreme right hand corner of the great Cathedral 
Rock—so far, indeed, that they cannot be seen till after the 
gateway of the valley is passed—rise the two needle-like 
columns of rock which serve as spires to that fictitious 
church. In reality, they are quite widely separated; but so 
s mall is the distance between them, as compared with the 
great height at which one views them from below, that they 
seem to stand close together and rise from a common pediment 
of rock. There is a difference of about a hundred feet in their 
height — the northern peak being the smaller. The southern measures seven hundred 
feet from base to apex. The beauty of both lies in their slender, tapering, needle-like 
shape. Seen from a distance, their naked faces seem perfectly smooth and rounded. A 
close inspection, however, shows that the wind and weather have worn them to an 
uneven granular structure. Myriads of little points stand out in low relief, and their 
facets have a wonderful power of absorbing and reflecting the sunlight, which gives—in 
the early morning especially — an almost luminous quality to the rock. 
















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Nf.vada.Fa t t. 



ATURE has arranged the surroundings of the Nevada Fall 
with a special eye to its full appreciation. Not only is the 
scenery about it particularly picturesque, but, being in the 
upper canon, it is out of sight of the other wonders of the 
valley, and holds the full attention of the observer. It is 
sufficiently remarkable in itself, however, to dispense with 
these accessories. It is the one fall that divides one’s alle¬ 
giance with the Yosemite. The great volume of water, the 
long drop of over seven hundred feet, the marvelous and 


ever-shifting play of colors over its surface, and the deafening tumult of sound that conies 
up incessantly from its basin, all combine in suggesting the same sensations of sublimity 
and beauty that are afforded by a consideration of its greater rival. It has, too, the same 
peculiar manner of fall. The water seems to separate into a thousand jets or streams, like a 
great flight of downward shooting rockets, which mingle and remingle in endless variety 
and plan, until at the base they are swallowed up in the solid stream of the river. The 
cliff over which the fall takes its leap is not quite perpendicular; and the inequalities on its 
face so turn the current that it comes down with a peculiar sidewise, shifting motion. In 
recognition of this fact, the Indians appropriately called this fall Yo-wi-ye , or the Great 
Twisted Water. 














/ 


4 

h i 
















Cathedral Rock. 



ERE is a marked, difference between the cliffs that form the 
portals to the valley. El Capitan is so rugged and imposing, so 
clear-cut and distinctive in color, that it somewhat overshadows 
its neighbor across the threshold. But the rock mass on the 
right has also its notable characteristics. It is more graceful 
and more shapely, more spiritual and more suggestive of things 
connected with human life. So close does it compare, both 
proportion and design, with some great gothic building, 
it has received the name of the Cathedral Rock. 
It dias the same airy lightness in its vertical lines, and is 
braced here and there, along its base, with high-reaching 
gothic buttresses of stone. The resemblance to a church is still further carried out by 
two graceful pinnacles of rock which crown its summit, and serve in place of spires. 
It is a cathedral for the gods, however, for its roof is twenty-seven hundred feet above 
its base. The space immediately around it is thickly wooded, and, here and there, on 
a ledge or in a crevice, a tree or bush has taken root, and hangs against the ' face like 
a sailor clinging to the shrouds. But, practically, the purity of surface is not interfered 
with, and these spots of color serve to relieve the dullness of the rock and gather 
delightful contrasts of light and shade. 





















- _____ 









Yosemite Fall. 






E MIT E FALL is the largest and most impressive 
cataract in the valley. All waterfalls have their distinctive 
characteristics; and this one might well be taken as the 
synonym of sublimity and force. There is about it 
.none of the delicacy and softening that idealizes the 
vision of the Bridal Veil; nor the quietness and wealth 
color that makes of the Vernal a living type of beauty. 
It is a half mile of boisterous, whirling, falling 
rushing headlong down the cliffs with such 
a mad hurry of incessant motion that, looking at it, 
everything is forgotten but the irresistible sensation of its dynamic power. It is twenty- 
seven hundred feet high, and from below appears a single unbroken fall. But looked at 
from the side it is seen to be divided into a succession of cascades. Its first dizzy leap is 
over sixteen hundred feet; but between this and the next direct descent there is a quarter 
mile of tumbling rapids. Then comes a plunge of six hundred feet checked by the rocky 
oval of a basin its own fury has hollowed in the granite, and after that the final leap of 
five hundred to the valley floor. Its sound is like the varying reverberations of continued 
thunder. So great is the volume of descending water, and so intense the impetus of its fall, 
that a steady draught of air is lifted like a mighty wind from the cauldron of black rocks 
at its base, which beats upon the observer with a force tha,t;. almost sweeps him from his feet. 


























The Half Dome. 






ALL the world there is nothing similar to the Half Dome of the 
Yosemite. Whole domes are not an uncommon feature of mount- 
scenery. But this great peak is like some well-rounded 
mosque roof cleft cleanly in twain, as if by a sword or 
some sharp instrument. From behind, except by height, it 
not be distinguished from its neighbor on the north. 


visible is its steep curve growing more abrupt 


as it descends, and the creamy glint of its overlapping granite scales. From the valley side, 
however, there is nothing to hide the wonderful height of its vertical face. Almost a mile 
it rises sheer above the river. The upper two thousand feet is absolutely perpendicular and 
the remainder slopes but slightly out into the valley. The whole front is of smooth and 
weather-polished stone; and no dbbris lies at the bottom to suggest that its precipitousness 
resulted from a falling of the rock. On its top is a comparatively level place of some seven 
acres in extent where a few stunted trees are found. Otherwise, aside from occasional lichen 
streaks, it is absolutely bare, and over and around, from top to bottom, of one even tint of 
yellow gray. 
































































































































































































































General View. 


?RAND as is the view of Yosemite Valley from Artist’s Point, 
the immensity of the distances traversed by the eye relieves 
R/the sense of awful height and depth, and gives the impression 
of beauty equally with sublimity. Tremendous is the only 
adjective that entirely expresses this wonderful gorge. But 
^ from this point its spaces are so filled with softening haze, 
that the impression is as if one saw the scene mirrored in a 

Lorraine glass and not as an actual reality in nature. It is a 

view of peak and precipice rather than of cataract; for, with the 
exception of the Bridal Veil, which flutters like a snowy pennant from the right-hand gateway 
of the valley, none of the larger falls are distinctly visible. Four thousand feet below is 
the green floor of the valley, with the Merced winding through it like a silver thread. 
Directly opposite, looking through two miles of air, one sees the farther granite wall, clean 
cut and bare, and marked with a winding scroll-like line that is the other road leading 
down into the valley. Beyond El Capitan the canon widens into the valley proper, affording 
the vista of one great peak after another in endless variety of form and characteristic. At 

the narrowing head the view is closed by the sharp-cut oval of the great South Dome, and 

beyond this the white-mitered crest of Clouds Rest with its everlasting snows,—the advance 
picket of the perpetual ice fields which lie just beyond it to the East. 






























The Snow Plant. 


/ 



Y and various have been the wonders afforded the 
ian mountains and coast. There is much that is 
novel and unique in the flora of the West, and some new 
object of interest is being continually brought to light. 
But there is nothing more unique in California flora than 
the little plant which, from its habit of growth, is called 
the Snow-plant (Sarcodes sanguined). It is never found 
below the snow line, so-called; not the line of perpetual 
snow, but the belt where, in the hollows and shady 
places, the snow lies all the year round. In this region, 
as soon as the summer sun has melted the drifts from an exposed spot, 
way through the water-soaked soil, the snow-plant throws up its curious spike of 
flowers. At first, it is simply a flame-colored point, vivid against the clear white background 
of the snow. But, once above ground, its growth is rapid, and it soon develops a shining 
stalk of scarlet, from six to eight inches in length, bearing the leaves and flowers. This 
stem is thick and fleshy, and often swells, just above the ground, to a diameter of three inches. 
Leaves, stem, and blossoms are all of the same vivid color, the latter being delicate hyacinthine 
bells, ranged in columns about the head, and each protected by an enveloping scarlet leaf. 















































































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